Natural gas fuel cell experiment successful

Patricia Jones

Petroleum News contributing writer

An experimental natural-gas fired solid oxide fuel cell has completed more than 5,000 hours of operation, producing five kilowatts of electricity and up to six kilowatts of auxiliary heat used by its host business, Fairbanks Natural Gas, in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Unique due to its small size, the fuel cell was installed last July. Siemens Westinghouse built the fuel cell stack and Ontario-based Fell Cell Technologies assembled the operating unit. Researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks coordinated the $383,000 experimental project, with the bulk of funding awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy, through its Arctic Energy Office.

The fuel cell has operated continuously since last September, when a power failure on the local electrical grid shut down its operation. “We needed to do some work on our installation, so the unit was down for about 10 days before we restarted it,” said Dennis Witmer, director of the Arctic Energy Technology Development Laboratory at the university. “Since the biggest questions surrounding fuel cells have been longevity and reliability, this is an exciting achievement in fuel cell technology and testing.”

Operating efficiency is more than 50 percent with direct current power, DC, and more than 40 percent when converted to alternating current, AC. “A typical small generator would be about 25 percent efficient,” Witmer said.

Additional research may involve similar-sized units that use propane or diesel, fuels readily available in rural Alaska locations, he added.